Use to record the measured or calculated surface area of a human body.
BSA can be used to support clinical decision-making, including but not limited to:
- determine the dosage of chemotherapy and other drugs with a narrow therapeutic index;
- calculation of the cardiac index; and
- calculation of intravenous fluid requirements.

Misuse

Not to be used to record the percentage of body surface area involvement in burns or other skin damage etc. This information should be carried in separate specific archetypes related to burns assessment.
Not to be used to record the adjusted Body surface area eg a calculation of the BSA of a person with limb amputation, based on other body part measurements and an algorithm - use OBSERVATION.body_surface_area-adjusted.